Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Stratigraphy And Depositional Environments Of A Late Pleistocene Barrier Island Complex, Southeastern Virginia, Alan K. Jasper

OES Theses and Dissertations

The Norfolk, Kempsville, and Sand Bridge Formations beneath the HIckory Scarp of southeastern Virginia are reinterpreted as representing one glacio-eustatic transgressive cycle. The timing of this transgressive event is set during the earliest Wisconsinan. The formations were previously interpreted as unconformable overlying one another. The Norfolk-Kempsville unconformity is actually a diagenetic boundary. Evidence is presented which indicates that the Kempsville Scarp area should be reduced to member status or dropped entirely.

Geomorphology And Dynamics Of A Sand Wave In Lower Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, Gerardo Miguel Eduardo Perillo

OES Theses and Dissertations

A single, more or less isolated, sand wave in a sand wave field recently discovered in the lower Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, was studied intensively for morphology, sedimentology and in terms of dynamic processes. The morphologic investigation consisted of bathymetric surveys of the sand wave field and the specific sand wave. Twenty-five grab samples and four box cores were obtained from different segments of the feature studied. Textural parameters of the samples were determined, and a multivariate technique was utilized to identify subenvironments on the feature. The box cores provided information on the internal structure of the sand wave.

Observations of …

The Distribution Of Several Metals And Cation Exchange Capacity In Sediment Fractions From An Artificial And Natural Marsh, James River, Virginia, William Nivens

OES Theses and Dissertations

In order to examine the mechanisms by which Fe, Mn, Ca, Zn, Cu, Ni and Pb are bound in sediments, a sequential selective extraction procedure was employed on sediment samples collected at an experimental dredge disposal marsh and a neighboring natural marsh located near Windmill Point, James River, Va. The metal concentrations were determined in six phases, interstitial water, exchangeable, easily reducible (oxides of Mn), organic, moderately, reducible (oxides of Fe), and residual fractions. In addition, the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the sediments was determined as well as the actual role of organics and colloidal iron coatings as they …

Sediment Interstitial Dissolved Mercury And Carbon Relationships In An Artificial And Natural Marsh, James River, Virginia, Apostolos Katsaounis

OES Theses and Dissertations

Thirty six sediment cores were collected during August, 1976 and January, 1977 in order to examine the relationships between dissolved organic carbon and total dissolved mercury in the interstitial water of two marshes located near Windmill Point, James River, 16 km downstream from Hopewell, Virginia. The Windmill Point marsh development site is a dredged material disposal island in the James River. The reference marsh which does not contain dredged material, is located 2.3 km upstream at Ducking Stool Point.

The concentrations of dissolved organic carbon and total dissolved mercury showed no significant difference between the two marshes. Trends in the …

The Effects Of Dredging On The Stability Of An Ebb-Tidal Delta, Lynnhaven Inlet, Virginia, Donald Keith Riggenbach

OES Theses and Dissertations

A channel was dredged in 1965 through the ebb-tidal delta of Lynnhaven Inlet, Virginia. The purpose of this study was to determine if this channel has affected the morphological configuration of the delta. It was proposed that the channel caused the dynamically stable delta to become unstable and change its morphology.

Bathymetric comparisons of seven surveys during the last 122 years, including one conducted during this investigation, show that prior to 1962 and the dredging operations, the delta had become dynamically stable. The present survey shows that the delta has changed its shape in response to the interaction of the …

Stability And Local Effects Of An Offshore Sand Storage Mound, Dam Neck Disposal Site, Virginia Inner Continental Shelf, William Joslyn Saumsiegle

OES Theses and Dissertations

From 1967 to 1974 medium to coarse sand dredged from the Chesapeake Bay was stockpiled approximately three miles offshore of Dam Neck, Virginia in hopes that the sand could be recovered for local beach renourishment projects. The resulting mound was surveyed over a two year period to determine if the sand is being removed by wave and current action and if the creation of a new feature on the ocean bottom changes the wave refraction patterns and perhaps creates local erosion.

Bathymetric profiles across the storage mound show some apparent morphological changes, but a detailed analysis of this data is …

Evolution Of Platt Shoals Northern North Carolina Shelf: Inferences From Areal Geology, Philip C. Sears

OES Theses and Dissertations

The evolution of Platt Shoals, a complex ridge and trough system on the south side of the Albemarle Shelf Valley, was determined and the modern hydraulic regime was inferred. The methods used were surficial grain size, 11 vibracores, seismic profiling and bathymetric maps. Platt Shoals developed in a three step process. The first, step was the formation of a substrate of late Pleistocene regressive deposits from 15,000 to 30,000 yr B. P. The second step, occurring approximately 11,000 yr B. P., was the formation of estuary mouth shoals of the ancestral Albemarle River. Between 4,4.00 to 5,000 yr B. P., …

Seismic Refraction Study Of Post-Pliocene Stratigraphy, Dismal Swamp, Virginia, William Brian Fraser

OES Theses and Dissertations

This study examines Pliocene-Pleistocene lithostratigraphy and the Yorktown unconformity within the Dismal Swamp by means of remote sensing analysis, Wyrobek-Gardner seismic refraction profiling and split-spoon coring. Pre-Sangamon fluvial/tidal channel deposits are not present and the Yorktown unconformity dips irregularly southeastward at 0.35 meters/kilometer (2 feet/mile) from a high at 4 meters above sea level to a low of -1 meter (+12 to -2 ft) below sea level. The marker velocity for the Yorktown Formation is 1600 mps (5250 fps) and regression of seismic depths of the Yorktown Formation with corresponding split-spoon depths yields a high correlation. Short line upper layer …

Grain Size Reconnaissance Of The Virginia-North Carolina Inner Shelf Analysis By Settling Technique, Robert Bailey Sanford Jr.

OES Theses and Dissertations

The 2-fold purpose of this study is to calibrate a Rapid Sediment Analyzer and to use it to aid in the determination of the genesis of sediment on the inner continental shelf between Cape Henry and Cape Hatteras. Rapid Sediment Analyzer calibration was conducted by comparison of sieving and settling results of similar sands.

The study area was divided into sediment provinces by both a qualitative procedure (grain size and topography) and a quantitatively procedure (factor-vector analysis). Qualitative provinces are beach and surf, upper shore face, lower shore face, sea floor, and terminal shoals. The berm fines from each terminal …